Michel (Michele Cossu) is a shepherd in Sardinia who has been wrongly accused of stealing livestock and killing a policeman. He runs into the hills with his brother Peppeddu (Peppeddu Cossu) and their flock, which they are still paying for. Losing the sheep would be too much to bear for his family, but that’s what happens as they are chased by the authorities. Then, facing a trial, he decides to be what he has been charged with: a criminal.

Directed by Vittorio De Seta, who wrote the script with Vera Gherarducci, this has a documentary feel, as those are the movies that De Seta started his career with. This is the story of a poor man who only has his job to sustain him, living within some of the most remote areas of the world, just trying to earn a living when the rest of the universe seems to conspire against him. There is no mastering nature just as there is often no way out when your back is against the rocks.

This is a gorgeous, if dismal, film and while set in the 20th century, it could have been set at any time, as the world that it comes from has remained the same since we counted time.

Radiance Films blu ray of Bandits of Ogrosolo is the first blu ray release of this movie in the U.S. It has a new 4K restoration from the original camera negative by The Film Foundation and Cineteca di Bologna at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory, in association with Titanus with funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation. Extras include interviews with cinematographer Luciano Tovoli and curator and filmmaker Ehsan Khoshbakht, a trailer, a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Filippo Di Battista and a limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Roberto Curti.

You can order this from MVD.